New expedition overland vid

[cruiseroutfit]

...XO will need to change, gear porn or not, if they want to survive. He can't be making a profit off of it at 150k subs, with 6 month breaks between series, and $100k+ builds for each series. I suspect he's successful enough at other endeavors (mentioned above) that he is able to spend a lot on XO as a hobby, but I'm sure he'd be thrilled if it became his sole job and a big brand/show. But until/unless it evolves, I thin kit faces running out of epic new places to go, whereas Ronny can basically make an awesome 30 minute episode by just wandering down the empty road on a driveabout.

One word: Sponsors

Producing, planning and executing XO is the sole income for a half dozen people, myself not included for the record. Full disclosure I am not a full-time employee rather I get paid for the trips as I have little involvement in day to day operations.

Running out of epic places? It's funny to think that, we've covered parts of 2 continents, there are 7. Plus episodes on places like McKenzie Trail in Canada are also financially viable. We've barely scratched the surface... stay tuned

 

[1996_Valencia_Owen]

Look, I like the PEOPLE in XO. But I think the makers really need to hear what folks are saying here.

It's overproduced right now. Yes, it looks super professional, but you don't have to be totally professional with outdoor adventure content. In fact, that's sorta the point of many other posters.

Let the show breathe now and then. Scale back in sections, and you'll find you have literally twice the content and footage from the same adventure with almost no effort.

You can still have big, epic sections of episodes. But you could have slower, quieter extra content, vlogs, etc that accompany.

And I bet the sponsors would love it, too.

Reference Ronny Dahl again. Before the South American trip, you guys were sitting at like 115k youtube subs. Around the same time, I remember him making a video being surprised and thanking youtubers for getting him to the 100k sub mark.

~4 months later, he's gone from 100k to 149k, and you guys have gone from 115k to 146k.

So he's basically doubled you up with smaller, more relatable adventures produced solo, with maybe an editor helping him, max.

He's done this by letting his videos breath in sections without any music, breaking out specific parts of his adventure (like campsite stuff) into smaller videos that accompany the big adventure, etc.

It's a smart move, and it let's people pick how deeply they want to engage with his channel and adventures.

So again, it's not that you guys need to be worried about under-making anything. It's that you could dial it back (or add extra content that does), and maybe even have more success with the same effort.

I for one would have loved to watch you guys sit around at the campfires more in Patagonia, or learn more about how your chef made some of those good on-the-road meals, etc.

The bottom line is: You have the basic ingredients already to get 5-10x the views with the same adventures, and at the same time, keep people engaged (look at the falloff from the Patagonia adventure Ep1 (310k+) to the final Ep12 (64k). That to me says if you improve the product the sky is the limit.

 

[Throwback]

Lots of good constructive criticism in the last couple of pages.

Seems the general consensus is that the whole over-the-top feel is the mood killer for viewers.

Y'all should do an episode with classic rock background music (Allman Bros, Foghat, ZZTop) and let someone else narrate just to see how it goes over.

 

[e60ral]

I want to see them do some low production videos like their first videos, I enjoyed those the most. Big trips are cool, but I wish they would just go on a long weekend trips with some friends on some Montana trails and post some fun videos about it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Throwback]

Video begins:

*Aerial night-time drone shot of the caravan driving down a divided suburban highway*

*Electronic epic planetarium music begins*

Clay voiceover: "As humans... with millions of years of evolution behind us... our primitive instincts drive our most basic levels of function..."

*Cut to caravan vehicle POV windshield camera showing the caravan pulling through a busy 4-lane intersection, lots of other vehicle lights*

*Audio feed of two-way vehicle-to-vehicle radio*: "OK team, in one half kilometer there will be a left turn onto Bentcreek Place Road."

Clay voiceover: "Sometimes the burden falls upon the Expedition Leader to facilitate experiences that ignite the dormant desires of our human team members."

"It's times like these that we must take a breath and realize how fortunate we are to not just exist, but truly LIVE"

*High altitude drone shot of caravan pulling into a parking lot with all exterior LEDs on, and parking beside each other in a choreographed vehicle dance*

*Cut to POV vehicle windshield camera*

*Audio of two-way radio*: "Congratulations, team. We have reached our destination.....

... two-for-one draft beer night at Frankie's pizza."

 

[ADK Explorer]

I enjoy the series for the background scenery and seeing how they navigate challenges whether it’s driving through a swamp or dealing with customs and border crossings. The South American episode seemed too rushed though. I thought it was a shame that they were in that beautiful Park in Patagonia surrounded by all these amazing mountains and all they did was walk up a hill, take a quick look and say, this is beautiful, okay men let’s move out. That reminded me of Chevy Chase at the Grand Canyon.

I understand they have time constraints and wanted to do this epic journey but maybe they should bite off smaller chunks. Then they could relax a little, explore more of the scenic areas, maybe even do some hiking to show some of the off track beauty. They could also mix in more of the local culture to lighten it up and add a little bit more human interest. In the South America episode about halfway through you could tell some of the guys were getting frazzled from all the driving and challenging environmental conditions.

Regarding over preparing with gear, I think that actually has some value in that we can see that some of the gear is useful some of it is overkill. We get to see what works and what doesn’t. It does give some perspective as to what you do need and what you don’t.

Anyways I'll keep watching for what it's worth to see new places and learn from their challenges. They are going to have to go overseas eventually. I look forward to seeing that as well.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Fwiw, there was approx 25 minutes of footage shown for every week we were boots on the ground in SoAm. Your watching a storyline, not a play by play. I don't control the story, I only control the route so I can't take credit or blame there

 

[1996_Valencia_Owen]

Fwiw, there was approx 25 minutes of footage shown for every week we were boots on the ground in SoAm. Your watching a storyline, not a play by play. I don't control the story, I only control the route so I can't take credit or blame there

It's all good. More story is more opportunity. It's not BAD either way. Just need a story arc, relatability, and way more footage per week on the ground lol.

 

[greatape]

Fwiw, there was approx 25 minutes of footage shown for every week we were boots on the ground in SoAm. Your watching a storyline, not a play by play. I don't control the story, I only control the route so I can't take credit or blame there

Constraints vs restraints.. Must do's and no can do's... Given the totality of all..mainly time restraints, you all extensively planned and produced a quality product. Stick more Stickers